Compliance with International Quality Standards: Evaluation of Turkish Higher Education Institutions in Terms of Management Dimensions

Abstract

This study describes and evaluates the situation of Turkish higher education institutions in terms of European Quality Assurance Standards (ESG). We considered the management processes of goal setting, planning, organizing, resourcing, leading, directing and evaluating, and improving. "Higher Education Evaluation and Quality Assurance Case Reports-EER" constitutes the main data sources of the study, which is carried out with multiple case analysis, one of the qualitative research designs. Content analysis was applied to reports covering 160 higher education institutions whose external evaluation process was completed in the 2016-2019 period. The analysis generated both qualitative and quantitative data. The study detected that a significant part of the ESG standards (.46) was not taken into account in the external evaluation process of Turkish higher education institutions. While the dimension in which Turkish higher education institutions are most successful in meeting international standards in terms of management is goal setting and planning, the managerial dimension experiencing the least success is evaluation and development. The area with the lowest level of maturity is ensuring stakeholder participation. It has been concluded that the vast majority of institutions are not focused on student learning. Furthermore, the centralized management structure of the Turkish higher education system has a limiting effect on the process of applying ESG standards.